Our Home

Welcome to our 116-year-old home on 5 grassy acres in the middle-of-nowhere Iowa! I love the character of old homes, while my husband gets a real kick out of the fact that THERE ARE NO RIGHT ANGLES. Click here to read the story about us finding our dream home.

It seems only natural to start our home tour at our doorstep. We put in this giant rounded patio and pergola a few summers ago, andd absolutely LOVE it. We’ve added a firepit and picnic table and spend many a’summers night out here soaking up the good life. (disregard that pile of rubble. It’s long gone)

Next is our dining room! I love that our house has the original 116-year-old hardwood floors… but that’s about the only thing that stayed the same in this room. Would you believe it had turquoise sponge-painting with beige painted trim when we moved in? I like to think it’s at least improved since then.

I realized that the toilet isn’t in any of these shots, but it’s there… I can assure you. And if I’m going to leave anything out, the toilet seems like the perfect choice. You can read through this whole room transformation post by post here. We still plan to install under-cabinet lighting, but for now we’re checking this room off our list. Phew!

Moving along!

Our living room used to be closed off from the dining room by A WALL. Nick and his dad tore it out one weekend, and Nick framed in the arches. We had to have the giant column to house the duct work.

There’s a small room off the living room that’s technically a bedroom because it has a closet. But it doesn’t practically work for us as a bedroom… so we call it the studio to sound fancy. It’s slowly turning into my ‘creative space’ (because craft room is super kitchy), but it has a looooong way to go.

The one little corner of this room that actually feels DONE is this mid-century hutch that houses all the girls’ creative/crafty things. I added removable wallpaper to the backboard of the hutch for a little added interest while maintaining the integrity of the genuine mid-century-ness. The paint dipped paintbrush clock was a super fun DIY. You should totally make your own!

Let’s head upstairs now, shall we?

The first room you come to upstairs is the bathroom. There’s still a lot we want to do in this bathroom, but we have enough other things on our radar right now that this room is on the back burner. It’s come a long way though! We extended the vanity and added the sink, built a butcherblock counter, and installed our own DIY Mason Jar Mosaic Backsplash. Best idea EVER.

I’m not even going to show you the rest of the room. Because NO.

Next room? Our ‘master’ bedroom! I put ‘master’ in parentheses because in houses this old, there is no such thing as a master room. All the rooms are the same size: TINY. But we make the best of these situations.

The next room down the hall is the nursery. We completely DIYed everything in this room when I was pregnant with the twins. We still love it and have left most of it the same even after our new baby girl is now living here.

My favorite element of this room is the changing table. This is an old cabinet that we pulled out of my Grandfather’s barn. It was in ROUGH SHAPE. We fixed it up and gave it a new lease on life. You’ve got to see the whole story (including before pics) here! I love that the damask I painted is a perfect match to the pattern on the curtains.

For a full reveal and cost breakdown for the nursery, click here! I’m pretty proud that we completely furnished and decorated that nursery for under $400.

Soooo many fun projects in this room. I’m just going to list them below in the form of images since I already have these made up. Click each image below to be taken to that particular tutorial!

This concludes our home tour! Do you feel like we’re fully BFF’s now? You’ll be relieved to know that my house usually looks like this. Thanks for hanging in there through this excessively long post! With all those projects and links I needed to go hunt down, I’m actually impressed with myself that it’s only taken me 4 hours to write this! Phew!

If you decide to try (or have already tried!) any of our projects, please send us pics! We love seeing what you guys come up with… and knowing that we inspired someone is THE BEST FEELING EVA.

Subscribe by Email

E-Mail Address

My Latest Videos

Please feel free to share or pin my posts! You're welcome to use ONE of my images (no collages or pinnables) with a link back to the corresponding post. Please do not edit or crop that single image in any way. Improper use of my photos, ideas or words is a violation of copyright. Thank you!

Instafeed

Categories

Categories

Attention: Almost any do-it-yourself project involves risk of some sort. Your tools, materials, and skills will vary, as will the conditions at your project site. Reality Daydream has made every effort to be complete and accurate in the instructions of the plans on this website. Reality Daydream will not assume any responsibility or liability for damages or losses sustained or incurred in the course of your project or in the use of the item you create. Always follow the manufacturer's operating instructions in the use of tools, check and follow your local building codes, and observe all commonly accepted safety precautions.